


quality coffee, chipped china

by LeapAngstily



Series: Casa Macchiato [1]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Cliché A Week 2021, Implied Relationships, M/M, Power Imbalance, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29743488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeapAngstily/pseuds/LeapAngstily
Summary: Alessio starts a new job and finds himself being sucked into a real-life soap opera.
Relationships: Gennaro Gattuso/Riccardo Montolivo, Gianluigi Donnarumma & Alessio Romagnoli
Series: Casa Macchiato [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217063
Kudos: 2





	quality coffee, chipped china

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the week 8 of my [Cliché A Week](https://montocalypse.tumblr.com/post/643838253027524608/week-8-coffeeshop-au-the-default-in-this-au-is) challenge. Considering I hate coffeeshop AUs, I had tons of fun writing this.

“I don’t want to see any nail polish, rings, wristbands, hanging jewellery and whatnot when you’re on the clock.”

The assistant manager, Riccardo, rattles on about cleanliness and punctuality as he searches through a box of t-shirts for Alessio’s size until he locates two and hands them to him. They are simple black shirts with the shop logo in front and the address for the online shop on the back.

“Remember, you’re responsible for keeping them clean – no one comes to a shift without a proper attire. Gigio will give you an apron and show you the ropes at the counter. I trust you read through the materials I mailed you the other week?”

It takes a moment for Alessio, who had zoned out halfway into the lecture, to realize his supervisor asked him a question. He whips out his phone to check his emails. “Sorry, what materials? I didn’t get any.”

“Wha--?” For a second, Riccardo looks like he is about to snap at Alessio, who is half-prepared to find a new job before this one even begins, despite not doing anything wrong. Then, Riccardo’s face falls, he lets out a heavy sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry, I guess it must’ve slipped my mind. Been a mad couple of weeks here, what with the new manager not in yet…” He clears his throat and meets Alessio’s eyes, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Anyways, I’m sure Gigio will have you ready for work soon enough. I’ll print you the materials before you finish for the day, just stop by the office on your way out if I don’t find you before that.”

Alessio is about to comment that it won’t be that hard to find him, considering the shop isn’t that big and the office is just around the corner from the service counter, but then he takes in the stressed crease between the manager’s eyebrows and thinks better of it. “Sure thing, boss. Thanks!”

He thinks he sees a flash of gratitude in the pale blue eyes, but it is gone before it properly registers, and then Riccardo is back speaking mile a minute like he never stopped, and Alessio is still having trouble keeping up.

Before he knows it, Riccardo has left him with his new colleague on the mid-morning shift and locked himself in the office with a promise to join them for the lunchtime rush.

Gigio turns out to be a boy fresh out of high school, skipping a year to earn some money of his own and to figure out what he wants to do with his life.

Alessio is not the shortest guy around by a long shot, but he still feels tiny with the massive teenager towering over him. His smile is infectious though, and Alessio finds himself liking him right away.

They spend the calm time of the morning going through the most popular coffee blends and the café menu, with Gigio stopping occasionally to serve the few customers that have lingered in the shop after the breakfast crowd.

It is not the first coffeeshop Alessio has worked at – he spent most of his last semester mixing drinks in a Starbucks at the university campus – but he is still overwhelmed by the sheer amount of different coffee blends and roasts he is supposed to memorize by heart. _Gennaro’s_ is not only a simple café chain, but also a coffee retailer that imports and sells high-quality coffee beans from across the world.

“Most of the customers don’t really know what the difference is though,” Gigio whispers with a cheeky smile, “they’re just hipsters and rich people who think it’s trendier than your average Starbucks, you know?”

“Plenty of hipsters at Starbucks too,” Alessio replies with a shrug, though he can immediately tell the clientele is distinctly different from what he is used to – and the menu, too, which is more focused on quality coffees and less on overly sweet specialty drinks.

“Speaking of,” Gigio quips as he finishes preparing a soy latte for a lady who has been sitting in a corner table with a laptop since Alessio came in, “for plant-based options, we’ve got soy, oat, almond, coconut and rice milk. Costs an extra euro, though – Ricky’s been fighting over it with the top branches since I started here. Bad for the ‘organic and eco-friendly’ image, apparently. But around half of our patrons are happy to pay it, so it’s a hard sell to the executives.”

By the time the lunch hour comes around, Alessio has familiarized himself with the set-up and started helping Gigio with preparing the orders, though he stays away from the register, realizing the questions about ‘softest blends’ and ‘newest arrivals’ are still beyond him.

As the shop starts filling up, Riccardo appears too, opening the second register and seamlessly inserting himself into the workflow. He takes orders and bills them quickly and efficiently, advises Alessio and Gigio, and prepares every order with clockwork precision that speaks of years of experience.

Alessio has barely time to think for the next couple of hours, so focused he is on not messing up on his first day. Riccardo sends him and Gigio to clean the tables as soon as the first wave of customers abates, and Alessio gladly accepts the dishwashing duty just to get a breather. Then the second wave comes, and he is back making espressos.

The afternoon is just starting to calm down and Alessio is considering another spin around the floor to tidy up the empty tables when a hush seems to fall around him. After a second, he realizes it is because both Riccardo and Gigio have stopped talking to the customers.

Alessio looks up from the espresso machine to see the cause of the sudden silence. He comes face-to-face with a man maybe in his early forties whose black, short hair is streaked grey from the temples and beard carefully trimmed.

“New kid again, Montolivo?” the man asks in a raspy voice, eyes not straying from Alessio even though he is talking to Riccardo at the register. “I swear to God, you can’t keep them for more than two weeks.”

“C’mon, Rino, I’m right here,” Gigio exclaims with a wounded expression, but his eyes are full of laughter as he tugs on Alessio’s arm to get him moving. “Anyways, we’re gonna just…” He gestures vaguely toward the steadily emptying tables.

“Was that--?” Alessio hisses to his colleague as he follows him to the nearest table.

“Shut up, you don’t wanna miss this,” Gigio cuts him short, pretending to collect cups from the table even though they didn’t even bring a tray with them. Alessio copies him after a moment of stunned silence, curiously studying the pair at the register.

“So, Mr. Gattuso, what can I get for you today?”

Alessio has been listening to Riccardo’s customer service voice for the past two hours, so he can immediately tell this is not it. The words might be polite, but the tone is frosty.

He also gets the confirmation Gigio had denied him earlier – this is Gennaro Gattuso, the chief executive and co-founder of the _Gennaro’s_ chain. He knew he had recognized the face!

“The usual,” comes the gruff reply, and it sends Riccardo straight for the espresso machine.

“So, what are we--?” Alessio starts again, but Gigio shushes him, eyes glued on Riccardo and Gattuso.

So Alessio watches too, as Riccardo switches the beans to a different brand and tweaks the grinding settings from memory. He doesn’t say a word as he brews the double espresso, a polar opposite to his earlier self, when he was chatting with the customers through the process.

Alessio doesn’t get what the big deal is – so their assistant manager and the CEO don’t get along, it is nothing he hasn’t seen before – but he doesn’t dare to try and speak up again when Gigio is obviously waiting for _something_ to happen.

Riccardo sets the cup on a plate – complete with a piece of organic dark chocolate and a sachet of sugar – and slowly walks back to the register, every step looking more reluctant. He doesn’t look up at Gattuso, who on the other hand seems to have been looking at him from the moment they were left alone.

Riccardo holds out the cup to his boss with the fakest smile Alessio has ever seen – and tips it all over his white button-up shirt, completely deliberate.

Gattuso jumps back with an enraged shout of, “Holy shit, you psycho!”

Riccardo only looks him up and down and says, “Oops,” in his flattest tone before walking away from the counter and disappearing into the kitchen.

“Oh, no you won’t!” Gattuso yells and rushes after him. “What the hell is wrong with you? That fuckin’ burned! I’m your goddamn boss, you can’t just…” His voice is cut off when the backdoor slams closed behind him, leaving behind a stunned hush that extends to all the customers.

“Okay, show’s over!” Gigio exclaims, loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “I apologize you had to see that – let them blow off some steam and they’ll be as good as new. In the meantime, the next refill is free of charge!”

The offer keeps them busy for another ten minutes, but soon they are left alone as the lunch hour customers return to their own jobs.

“What the hell was that?” Alessio asks in a low voice as they clean the counter and switch the lunch sandwiches in the showcase to cakes and pastries.

He is having hard time understanding what he just witnessed – he had never imagined the inarguably stressed but ultimately pleasant assistant manager would show such a side of himself in front of the whole shop.

“Oh, that’s Ricky and Rino for you.” Gigio grins like it is funny rather than terrifying that their direct supervisor just _assaulted_ the CEO of the whole company without batting an eye. “Given, they’re usually more or less civil when they’re in public. But they’ve never gotten along as far as I know. And Ricky is literally the only person who can pull shit like that and get away with it. God knows why but that’s how it is.”

“You call _that_ civil?” Alessio nods towards the trash scoop where they had swept the shattered china earlier.

“And you don’t? Better get used to it, kiddo.” Gigio laughs and ruffles Alessio’s hair, like he was the older one of the two. “Nah, today’s not your usual day. Ricky was passed over for store manager for the second time in less than a year – you should’ve seen him last week when it happened, he was _furious_.”

That explains some of it, but not nearly all. “But still – throwing hot coffee on your boss? Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

“A bit,” Gigio agrees as he closes the glass door of the showcase, “though it’s not the worst I’ve seen. Once Rino stabbed Ricky’s arm with a fork, there was blood all over the kitchen…” He offers Alessio a smile that he probably means as reassuring, but it doesn’t do the trick.

“That’s just insane…” Alessio shakes his head and picks up a large tray. “I’m gonna clean the tables.”

“I can’t really blame him, though,” Gigio says before he can leave, though. “Ricky, I mean. He’s been around since Rino himself was managing the store, before they expanded online and opened other shops. If anyone deserves that promotion, it’s Ricky, but they keep bringing in people from outside. And _still_ half the time, Ricky ends up being the one shouldering a bunch of stuff the manager is supposed to.”

“Might help his chances if he stopped burning his boss with coffee,” Alessio murmurs.

“You’re probably right.” Gigio lets out long a sigh. “But would you be able to take it? Busting your ass in the same workplace for _six_ _years_ and never getting the recognition you know you deserve? He’s probably tried every approach by now, until he reached the point of not giving a shit.”

Riccardo had looked like he very much gave a shit, Alessio thinks, but says nothing. Instead, he opts for his original plan and starts cleaning the tables without another word.

He is loading up the dishwasher when Gattuso exits the backroom, now wearing one of the printed t-shirts under his suit jacket. Riccardo is nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, sorry you had to see that, on your first day too. Really not the first expression I was going for,” Gattuso says with a forced chuckle when he spots Alessio. “I’m Rino. I own the place. The majority of it, anyways.”

“Alessio Romagnoli,” he responds numbly. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gattuso.”

“I’m sure it ain’t, after that show we put on.” Gattuso is rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “And just Rino is fine, no one around here calls me ‘mister’.”

“Okay,” Alessio says. He doesn’t know what else he is supposed to say.

“Welcome to the madhouse, Alessio. I promise it ain’t always like this.” Rino waves toward the backdoor as if to tell Riccardo is still out. “I hope you don’t hold it against him. Or me, for that matter. We’re just… complicated.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not my place to judge.” Alessio isn’t sure he actually believes his own words, but Rino seems happy enough with it so he drops that train of thought.

It is really not his place – he is just here to sell coffee to make it through the university.

Rino leaves him to his dishes and returns to the front, asking Gigio for another double espresso and a piece of cheesecake to calm his “fucking nerves”.

Once the industrial dishwasher is humming in the corner, Alessio moves to empty the trash cans to get the space ready for the evening shift. Gigio throws him a thankful look when he comes pick up the trash from the front as well.

Rino is sitting in a corner table with his coffee and cake, animatedly talking on the phone.

“He probably intends to wait out Ricky’s tantrum,” Gigio notes in passing as Alessio carefully moves the shards of china into a bag. “You better warn him if he’s still out there chain-smoking behind the dumpsters.”

Riccardo is, indeed, smoking behind the dumpsters when Alessio takes the trash out and starts sorting it into correct containers. He has half a mind to wonder how ‘civil’ Riccardo and Rino usually are if Gigio with his six months of experience can tell where their supervisor’s preferred hiding spot is.

He first sees only the thin trail of smoke rising from behind the farthest container, and he thinks he should probably warn Riccardo that smoking so close to the cardboard waste might not be the best idea. Then he rounds around the dumpsters and changes his mind immediately.

Riccardo’s face is blotchy and eyes red, and there is a good dozen stumped cigarettes on the ground around him. ‘Chain-smoking’ was certainly not an exaggeration. His hair and clothes are messy too, like they had a tumble with Rino before the CEO returned inside.

He doesn’t look at all like the slightly reserved and constantly busy man Alessio met this morning.

“He still in there?” Riccardo asks with a flat voice, startling Alessio.

“…Yeah, Gigio said he’s probably gonna wait until you’ve calmed down.”

“Fuck…” Riccardo runs a hand through his hair, which only manages to mess it up further. “Guess that leaves me no choice. Not gonna get any better than this with that shithead around.”

He drops the cigarette and crushes it under the heel of his boot. He spares not another glance to Alessio as he heads in, still cursing under his breath, though Alessio thinks he might have switched languages because he doesn’t recognize the words anymore.

When he returns inside some five minutes later, he catches a snippet of an argument through the closed office door, though it feels subdued compared to Rino’s earlier shouting.

“You know I can’t just _hand_ you the promotion, Riccardo; the board’s gonna think me biased.”

“No one’s gonna think anything, _Gennaro_ , because you’re the goddamn CEO and they all know I’m the best candidate for the job, anyways. You’re just being an asshole.”

“Listen, you know it’s not that simple--”

“Isn’t it, though? You’re the one who’s making it complicated, no one else gives a damn if you…”

Alessio speeds up past the door, humming under his breath to block out the rest of the argument. It is none of his business, and he has no intention of inserting himself into the drama that seems like a permanent fixture in his new workplace.

When he returns to the front, Gigio puts him at the counter and tells him he is going to count the register before their shift ends. Alessio suspects he just wants to eavesdrop on their bosses, but makes no comment on it.

Gigio returns some ten minutes later but says nothing about what he might have heard.

The rest of their shift is uneventful with only a few customers, all of whom Alessio manages to serve on his own. Gigio grins and exclaims he is going to just sit back and let Alessio do all the work in their next shift together.

The evening staff – two boys, named Patrick and Davide, whom Alessio is sure he has seen before on campus – show up good fifteen minutes before the end of Alessio and Gigio’s shift.

“Rino came around, probably to check on Alessio,” Gigio tells them, eliciting an annoyed groan from Davide and a roll of eyes from Patrick. “Were they still yelling when you passed the office, or you reckon he finally went home?”

“Didn’t hear a thing.” Patrick shrugs. “It’s not like they stand each other’s company more than a few minutes at a time. Bet they let off some steam and called it a day. Isn’t that what usually happens?”

“Dunno, seemed worse than usual today. Alessio was traumatized for life!”

“I feel you, bro,” Davide grins and claps Alessio’s shoulder reassuringly. “I remember my first Rino-Ricky fight. Thought I wouldn’t last more than a week in such a toxic work environment.”

“Luckily, the rest is pretty great,” Patrick pipes in, pulling on his apron and replacing Alessio at the register. “The tips are much better than in your usual coffeeshop, and Ricky’s super flexible when it comes to planning the schedules around our lectures. Too bad Rino can’t see past that stupid rivalry and just give him the job.”

Alessio feels much better when he changes into his usual shirt in the backroom, after talking to his new colleagues. They seem like a level-headed bunch, and if they got over the first shock of the managerial struggle, then there is no reason why Alessio cannot do the same.

He remembers he was supposed to get the study materials from Riccardo only when he is already out of the door. He quickly checks his bus timetable and decides he should have enough time to go back and grab the printouts from Riccardo’s office.

He will have a couple of days to study the coffee offering before his next shift, so that he can start really pulling his weight on the job.

He waves to Davide and Patrick at the front when he passes them.

The office door is slightly ajar, which must mean Riccardo is still in, but there is no answer when Alessio knocks on the door softly. When the second try doesn’t produce a better result, Alessio pushes the door open carefully and peeks inside, only to freeze in his tracks.

Rino has backed Riccardo against a filing cabinet, the assistant manager’s legs wrapped around his midsection and arms wound around his neck. Neither of them seems to have noticed they are not alone anymore as they devour each other’s lips, completely oblivious of the outside world.

Alessio pulls the door fully closed when Rino’s hand slips under Riccardo’s t-shirt, the printouts all but forgotten as he struggles to understand yet another soap opera plot twist in his first day on a new job.

Once again, he is not sure if he will be able to get used to it.

He hears a muffled moan through the door that sounds like Riccardo. He makes a quick escape through the backdoor and just catches his bus despite taking the long way out.

(Two days later, Alessio comes back to work to find out Riccardo got that promotion, after all.

He silently wonders if the decision was made before or after his bosses started sucking each other’s faces off.)


End file.
